SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County's COVID-19 hospitalizations and infection rates remained relatively stable as seven more fatalities were logged, most of which happened this month, according to the latest data released by the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The county's COVID-related hospitalizations were at 66 as of Monday, the most recent data available. The patient counts have been in the 60s since April 13. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care was at 13, continuing a trend in the teens since April 8.
The county has 33.4% of its ICU beds available, well above the 20% level when officials become concerned. Of those hospitalized, 83.6% are unvaccinated, and that rate is at 86.4% in the ICU. The county has not seen hospitalizations this low since the end of last June before the Delta variant fueled a surge, followed by the Omicron variant this winter.
The daily case rate per 100,000 people was at 5.7 on a seven-day average with seven-day lag, and at 3.6 for the adjusted rate with a seven-day average and seven-day lag.
The testing positivity rate was at 1.9% overall and 0.8% in the health equity quartile which measures the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. The county logged 1,067 more infections since Friday, raising the cumulative case count to 551,923. The seven fatalities increased the death toll to 6,997.
Six of the fatalities were this month with the most recent one on April 16, raising April's death toll to 16 so far. The other death happened on Feb. 17, raising that month's death toll to 327. The death toll for March stands at 81, and at 554 in January and 115 in December. Health officials have said that the majority of people who die of COVID complications have underlying conditions, mainly hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
The case rate per 100,000 for fully vaccinated residents who have received a vaccine booster decreased from 6.9 to 5.6, according to data released Tuesday. The case rate for fully vaccinated residents with no booster decreased from 3.9 on April 15 to 3.2, and the rate for not fully vaccinated residents dropped from 6.6 to 5.6.
The number of vaccines administered in Orange County increased from 2,300,191 last week to 2,301,942 this week, according to Tuesday's data. That number includes an increase from 2,158,968 to 2,161,026 residents who have received the two-dose regimen of vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna.
The number of residents receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine decreased from 141,223 last week to 140,916 as officials continue to adjust to a new accounting of shots administered in the counties across the state. Booster shots increased from 1,269,169 last week to 1,274,022 this week.
In the most recently eligible age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of children vaccinated increased from 88,917 to 89,318, versus 179,262 who have not been vaccinated. It's the least-vaccinated age group in Orange County.